There's been a trend in recent years of everyone and their brother hopping on a proverbial train labeled "Vegetarianism." As the population has paid shrewder attention to health and nutrition, it seems that one of the most touted lifestyles is any collection of vegetarianism, most specifically veganism, which eliminates any addition of meat or dairy products in one's diet. Meats have been condemned for the alleged predispositions one will have to heart disease and various cancers due to the consumption of saturated fats.
近年来有一种趋势，人人都热衷于标榜自己是"素食主义者"。人们越来越关注健康和营养问题，貌似最时尚的生活方式就是加入素食主义阵营——饮食中完全没有肉类或乳制品。人们排斥肉食，认为吃肉会摄入饱和脂肪，从而患上心脏病和各种癌症。
In the 1950s, a breakfast that included greasy bacon, three egg omelettes and steak was seen as typical. "Diet" wasn't a word that was common in American vernacular and "gym rat" would likely be associated with an actual rodent as opposed to a fraternity member with a penchant for pumping iron. Over several decades, America's views on health and diet have changed drastically. Vegetarianism is no longer a rarity and it seems that every other week a member of Hollywood's elite (or at least reality television) is touting veganism as their diet of choice, along with various "cleanses" (note: don't do a cleanse). For many, acquiring a gym membership is as crucial as having a credit card, and the word "bacon-wrapped-cheddar whatever" is synonymous with dropping an "F" bomb. It is interesting that vegetarianism has become so much of the hype for combatting diseases when instances of heart disease and various cancers are at an all-time high and have led to more mortalities than they ever had during decades where meat was considered a staple of all dishes. The truth of the matter is, food processing and various artificial ingredients are much more likely to be contributing to health detriments than a healthful steak or lamb shank. While everyone believes meats and dairies have become unhealthy, the truth is quite the opposite. Meat consumption can actually lead to a decreased risk of various medical conditions and can help to maintain weight. Let's take a look at the 10 ways vegetarians have gotten it all wrong.
在20世纪50年代，早餐里通常会有肥腻的培根、三个煎蛋和牛排，在美国方言中并没有"饮食"这个词，"体育馆老鼠"还不用于比喻喜欢举重的健身馆会员，而是指真正的老鼠。最近几十年来，美国人对健康和饮食的观点发生了戏剧性的变化。素食主义不再是一个罕见的观念，貌似每隔一周，就有大批好莱坞精英（至少是真人秀明星）宣称他们是素食者。很多人觉得获得健身房会员资格的重要性堪比拥有信用卡，对他们来说，"吃任何东西都要加培根"的想法简直不可理喻。有意思的是，越来越多的素食主义者高调宣称，现在是心脏病和各种癌症发病率有史以来最高的时期，可是在过去，人们每餐都吃肉，由心脏病和癌症引发的死亡率却远远低于现在。 实际上，相比牛排或羊腿，食品的烹饪方式以及各种人造添加剂对健康的损害更严重。很多人都认为肉类和乳制品有损健康，而事实却恰好相反。吃肉会让我们少生病，并且有助于保持体重。下面请看素食主义者的10种错误观念。
10.Our Ancestry Is Rooted In Eating Meat
10.人类的祖先是肉食动物
Back in the days our primitive ancestors lived — around 2.5 million years ago — behaviors were much more instinctual. There were no "fad" diets, just a diet that consisted of hopefully finding a worthy specimen to kill and eat in order to stave off starvation. In other words, it was a simpler time.
回顾250万年前，人类的祖先基于本能生活。在那时，没有所谓的"饮食时尚"，他们竭尽所能只为果腹。换言之，这是一个朴素的时代。
Other than eating meat as a survival technique — and because that along with the occasional twigs and berries were all that was at our primitive ancestors' disposal — Pete Ungar of the University of Arkansas made the discovery in 2003 that Homo sapiens "had much sharper teeth than their most likely immediate ancestor, Australopithecus afarensis, which posits that our ancestors were born to consume meat. The steep crests of primitive humans cannot be found in various omnivores, and even chimpanzees and gorillas "which consume mostly soft foods such as ripe fruit and almost no meat" do not have as steep and sharp of a crest in their teeth. The sharpness of the crest of our teeth is clearly designed for cutting and tearing of tough textures that are characteristic of meat. There is more to the story of evolutionary reasons for keeping meat as a staple in the human diet. When Homo sapiens brains increased in size during the Ice age, their digestive systems also became smaller so that they would need less energy in order to survive the long, harsh winters of the Ice Age, which made food scarce. There were very little plant options during this time, and meat became the primary source of primates' nutrients and energy. According to Holistic Help, the advent of agriculture is one thing that has begun to change our evolutionary assets in a negative way. Holistic Help vetted Dr. Barry Groves for more insight, and he posited that, " The brain has become 11 percent smaller since the introduction of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. Many of the calories in the diet that once consisted of nutrient-dense foods, like the high-fat animals of the Paleolithic era, were substituted with mineral-depleting grains. This has robbed the brain of the energy it needs to maintain its large size."
之后，他们偶尔能吃到野果和树枝，食肉随之成为一项生存技能。阿肯色大学的Pete Ungar在2003年的研究中发现，智人的牙齿比他们的先辈阿法南猿人更锋利，因此他们天生就有食肉的能力。在杂食动物，甚至是黑猩猩和大猩猩中，都没有发现类似原始人类的牙冠。黑猩猩和大猩猩只能吃像熟透的果子这样容易咀嚼的食物，他们几乎不吃肉，因为他们的牙齿上没有锋利的牙冠。人类牙齿上的牙冠就是用来撕咬和嚼碎像肉类一样坚韧的食物。还有很多与进化相关的原因使得肉食成为人类的基本饮食。在冰河时代，智人的脑容量变大，消化系统变小，因此他们只需要较少的能量就可以度过漫长、寒冷、食物匮乏的严冬。在这样的冬天几乎找不到植物来充饥，肉类就成了能量和营养的主要来源。Holistic Help说，农业的出现对人类的进化产生了负面影响。他仔细查阅了Barry Groves博士的研究并指出："自10000年前出现农业以来，人类的脑容量缩小了11%，因为食物中营养丰富的食材（例如：旧石器时代里，富含脂肪动物的肉）被谷类所替代，从而导致大脑缺乏足够的能量来维持脑容量的体积。"
9.Consumption Of Red Meat Can Prevent Certain Deficiencies
9.吃牛羊肉能预防某些疾病
Marbly red meats are a favorite entree several in restaurants across the nation, and also considered a "guilty pleasure" by many due to the high amount of saturated fats, as well as beef's omnipresence on fast food menus across the globe. The processing of red meat in chain restaurants has been instrumental in giving this protein and vitamin-rich food a bad rap. However, red meat purchased from grocery stores that has labels like "grass-fed," "organic," "ethical," "hormone-free" and/or "unprocessed" can serve as an essential part of one's diet and decrease the risk of physical and mental health ailments such as anemia, jaundice and dementia to name a few.
牛羊肉在各个餐馆都深受欢迎，牛肉制品也遍布全球各地的快餐店，不过，因为其富含饱和脂肪，很多食客觉得应该少吃。快餐连锁店对牛羊肉的粗制滥造，导致人们对这种富含蛋白质和维生素的食物印象不佳。不过，从肉店买回的牛羊肉（如有机肉、优质肉、无激素或未加工的肉类）依然可以作为人们饮食中的重要组成部分，食用牛羊肉有助于降低身心疾病的发病风险，例如：贫血、黄疸和痴呆。
Red meat is rich in vitamin B12, a vitamin that can only be found in meats, dairy or poultry products and is essential to the operations of the central nervous system. A deficiency in this vitamin can give way to a litany of health issues such as dementia that can decrease quality of life and longevity. Deficiencies in B12 can be insidious, as people can go years without feeling the effects. There are few tastier ways to ensure you are getting enough of this essential vitamin than to "beef" things up at dinner time with a home-cooked burger or filet mignon.
只能从肉类、乳制品和家禽产品中获取的维生素B12是中枢神经系统正常运行的必要保障，而牛羊肉中富含维生素B12。缺乏维生素B12可能会引发一系列健康问题，例如：痴呆（降低生活质量减少寿命），这类疾病的病情并不显著，人们可能很多年都没有意识到疾病的影响。而多吃牛羊肉，是避免维生素B12缺乏症的最有效的办法。
8.Vegetarianism Does Not Necessarily Help With Weight Loss
8.素食主义并不有助于减肥
Many people have taken to vegetarianism not for political reasons, but for weight loss reasons, as vegetarianism has been touted as a great weight loss regimen. This is not necessarily the case. In fact vegetarianism can actually lead to weight gain.
很多人选择素食主义不是因为政治因素，而是想要减肥，素食主义已被吹捧为减肥的绝好方法。然而实际情况未必如此，吃素有可能导致体重增加。
As a personal anecdote, I'll reference an ex of mine who practiced vegetarianism. When you think of a vegetarian, you're likely thinking of someone who eats tons of organic fruits and vegetables, a plethora of nuts and beans for proteins, and a smorgasbord of healthy complex carbohydrates like brown rice or quinoa, all aligned in a beautiful rainbow of health on a plate like one of those featured in many a picture on veg blogs. The reality is that you don't necessarily have to be healthy to be a vegetarian. You just have to exclude meat (and dairy as well if you are a vegan). My ex boyfriend the vegetarian had a steady diet of vodka, tofurkey, hash browns, and Oreos (which are completely vegan, by the way) to support his vegetarian lifestyle. In other words, he wasn't in the best of health. Vegetarianism and veganism do not provide the same satiation that a diet including meat does. Because meats provide complete proteins as well as fat, you will feel fuller longer. In fact, met actually can aid in a weight-loss program and even expedite benefits gained during exercise. According to Men's Health, "When you eat, your body has to expend calories to digest the food. Protein causes this inner fire to burn the hottest, followed by carbohydrates, followed by fat. Animal proteins increase thermogenesis more than vegetable proteins, so the best calorie-burning foods are lean meats. So eat some protein at each meal—build your dinner around lean chicken, beef, or pork. That way, you're burning the most calories through digestion at the end of the day, when your metabolism is slower."
我以前也曾奉行素食主义，现在想跟大家分享一下前男友的趣闻轶事。当你想到素食主义者时，你可能会认为他们只吃大量的有机水果、蔬菜、坚果、富含蛋白质的豆制品以及各种健康的如糙米或藜麦一类的碳水化合物，它们像彩虹般摆放在盘子上，就和博客上介绍蔬菜的图片一模一样。事实上，你不用为了保持健康而成为一个素食主义者，你只需要不吃肉就行了（如果你是一个严格的素食主义者，那么奶制品也不要吃）。我前男友是一名素食主义者，他坚持用伏特加、豆腐火鸡、薯饼和奥利奥（顺便说一下，他是一位严格的素食主义者）来支撑他的素食生活。换句话说，他根本不是最佳的健康状态。素食主义者和严格的素食主义者都不能像肉食者一样感受饱腹感，因为肉类除了提供蛋白质，还会提供让你的饱腹感持续时间更久的脂肪。实际上，肉类有助于减肥，让你在运动中瘦身的速度更快。《男士健康》这本杂志提到，"当你吃东西后，你的身体需要消耗卡路里来消化食物，蛋白质可以让体内的热量燃烧到最热，其次是碳水化合物，最后是脂肪。动物蛋白比植物蛋白产热多，所以燃烧卡路里的最好食物是瘦肉。因此，每顿吃一点含蛋白质的食物，例如瘦鸡肉、牛肉或者猪肉。在每天晚间，你的新陈代谢速度会减慢，但食用动物蛋白会让你通过消化燃烧最多的卡路里。"
7.Meat Probably Doesn't Cause Cancer
7.肉类也许并不会致癌
One of the most touted reasons to steer clear of meats — particularly those high in saturated fats — is the alleged increased risk of cancer and heart disease. Not only were cases of cancer, heart disease, AND obesity much lower during decades like the 1950s — where meat was a staple of every mealtime — recent research has shown that both saturated fat and cholesterol actually pose benefits to the body. According to Authority Nutrition, cholesterol is an essential molecule and yes that includes both HDL (or "good cholesterol") and LDL (otherwise known as "bad cholesterol"). "When we get a lot of cholesterol from the diet, the liver just produces less of it instead, so the total amount doesn't change much. In fact, in about 70% of people, cholesterol has negligible effects on cholesterol in he blood. In the other 30% (termed hyper-responders), there is a mild elevation in LDL cholesterol, but HDL (which is protective) also goes up."
食用肉类会导致所谓的患癌症和心脏疾病的风险增加，这是人们不吃肉，尤其是不吃那些富含饱和脂肪的肉的最重要的原因之一。其实不仅是癌症，目前患有心脏病和过度肥胖的患者都比上世纪50年代要多，而那个时候肉食是一日三餐的主食。最近研究表明，饱和脂肪和胆固醇实际上对我们身体有益。根据网站"权威营养"介绍，胆固醇是一种重要的分子，包括了高密度脂蛋白（或称为"好的胆固醇"）和低密度脂蛋白（或称为"坏的胆固醇"）。 "如果我们从饮食中摄入了过多的胆固醇，肝脏就会代谢出少量的胆固醇，因此总量并没有太大变化。事实上，在人体内大约70%的部位中，总胆固醇对血液中胆固醇的影响几乎可以忽略不计。在另外人体的的30％（称为超应答者），低密度脂蛋白含量会有轻微的升高，不过高密度脂蛋白含量（它具有保护性）也会随之上升。
Authority Nutrition goes on to note that saturated fats can be beneficial by "decreasing risk of stroke" and results from studies and data collection have aggregated to show that saturated fats do not have an impact on cancer risks and heart disease.
"权威营养"提醒，饱和脂肪有利于"降低中风的风险"，集中了研究成果和统计数据的结果显示，饱和脂肪不会提高患癌症和心脏病的风险。
6.Not Eating Meat Is Bad For The Environment
6.不吃肉无益于环境
Say what?! That's right. Look, as an animal lover myself, it always feels a bit morbid to be a proponent of handing out death sentences to livestock. I can empathize with those who are put off by the idea of eating meat due to both their love of animals, and the abhorrent conditions of some (some not all) farming industries. The fact of the matter is, however, not only do we currently have a choice of selecting meats and dairy products that are from farming industries that allow "free-range" and do not include the use of hormones or GMOs, but to eschew killing cattle for meat production would actually be detrimental to our environment. Yes, that's right, the methane produced from livestock is more potent than the deadly gas known as carbon monoxide. Moreover, soy and tofu products have always been regaled in vegetarianism (I don't know if there's a single person that orders tofu without a self-important grin plastering their face. Hey, I've been guilty of it myself) but tofu production actually exacerbates environmental harm. According to a study from Cranfield University, "Switching from British-bred beef and lamb to meat substitutes imported from abroad such as tofu and Quorn would increase the amount of land cultivated, raising the risk of forests being destroyed…The researchers concluded: ‘A switch from beef and milk to highly refined livestock product analogues such as tofu could actually increase the quantity of arable land needed to supply the UK.'"
什么？不吃肉无益于环境？其实这是真的，看吧，作为一个动物爱好者来说，倡导吃家禽确实是有点不对。不过我可以强调，那些倡导不吃肉的人不仅是动物爱好者，同时也是和农场工业过不去的人。事实上，除了选择吃农场生产的不含激素、转基因的肉类或奶制品，为了吃牛肉而选择杀牛的一系列行为其实对于环境是不利的。这一观点肯定是正确的，家畜蓄养制造的甲烷比起致命的一氧化碳更有影响力，而大豆以及豆腐产品更受素食主义者的欢迎，但是事实上豆腐制品并不对环境有利。克兰菲尔德大学的研究表明：把英国本土饲养的牛和羊转换成牛肉、羊肉替换进口的豆腐或者是素肉会增加耕植土地的数量，造成森林被毁坏的风险。同时，调研者还总结道：若是把牛肉或者是奶制品替换成高度提纯的牲畜制品（如豆腐一类）会增加英国供给耕作土地的数量。
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